Document encoding apparatus

ABSTRACT

Apparatus for printing on unit records or documents of at least two different lengths as they are being rapidly conveyed along a path and being operable to enter printed data thereon in designated field areas of the documents regardless of the lengths thereof. Included is a printing or encoding station having a print wheel for entering data in the field areas of the documents as they pass therethrough and further having a first photodetector on the downstream side of the station for sensing the leading edge of a document in the station and a second photodetector on the upstream side of the station for sensing the presence of the trailing portion of the document. Coupled to the photodetectors is an electrical control circuit which responds to the sensing of the leading and trailing portions of a document in the station for determining the distance from the leading edge of the document where data for the first of the several field areas will be entered thereon. Such distance determining means may be optionally controlled by a manual switch when batches of similar length documents are conveyed through the encoding station or controlled automatically by a circuit provision cooperating with the photodetectors and capable of determining the lengths of the documents passing through the station and spacing the entry of the data on the documents in accordance therewith. A feature of the invention relates to a further provision for making a fine adjustment in the event the locating of the field areas on the documents deviate from prescribed specifications.

United States Patent 1191 Williams 1 May 22, 1973 [54] DOCUMENT ENCODINGAPPARATUS [75] Inventor: Richard M. Williams, Livonia, Mich.

[73] Assignee: Burroughs Corporation, Detroit,

Mich.

[22] Filed: Sept. 17, 1970 [21] Appl. No.: 72,921

[52] US. Cl ..10l/91,101/235 [51] Int. Cl ..B4ll 47/46, B41f 13/48 [58]Field of Search ..l0l/93 C,9l,2,

l0l/233, 234, 235, 236, 237, 238, 239, 240, 241, 242, 287, DIG. 15, 297

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,084,097 6/1937 Long..101/287 X 2,087,315 7/1937 Bugg ..101/287 2,111,124 3/1938 Naylor101/DIG. 15 2,283,804 5/1942 Grant et al. ..l0l/297 2,321,405 6/1943McFarlane et al. ..101/242 2,547,470 4/1951 Janke ..l0l/233 2,743,6715/1956 Weber et al. ..l0l/235 2,903,965 9/1959 Eichenbaum et al....101/235 2,988,984 6/1961 Eckert et al. ..10l/2 3,039,385 6/1962 Siegel101/91 3,191,526 6/1965 Ross 101/91 3,294,015 12/1966 Gartside 101/353,373,685 3/1968 Adams ..l0l/235 3,438,323 4/1969 Smitzer ..10l/2333,573,589 4/1971 Berry ..318/601 Primary Examiner-William PennAtt0meyl(enneth L. Miller and Edwin W. Uren [57] ABSTRACT Apparatus forprinting on unit records or documents of at least two different lengthsas they are being rapidly conveyed along a path and being operable toenter printed data thereon in designated field areas of the documentsregardless of the lengths thereof. Included is a printing or encodingstation having a print wheel for entering data in the field areas of thedocuments as they pass therethrough and further having a firstphotodetector on the downstream side of the station for sensing theleading edge of a document in the station and a second photodetector onthe upstream side of the station for sensing the presence of thetrailing portion of the document. Coupled to the photodetectors is anelectrical control circuit which responds to the sensing of the leadingand trailing portions of a document in the station for determining thedistance from the leading edge of the document where data for the firstof the several field areas will be entered thereon. Such distancedetermining means may be optionally controlled by a manual switch whenbatches of similar length documents are conveyed through the encodingstation or controlled automatically by a circuit provision cooperatingwith the photodetectors and capable of determining the lengths of thedocuments passing through the station and spacing the entry of the dataon the documents in accordance therewith. A feature of the inventionrelates to a further provision for making a fine adjustment in the eventthe locating of the fie d areas on the documents deviate from prescribedspecifications.

14 Claims, 8 Drawing Figures PAIENIEW $734,011

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RICHARD M. WILLIAMS BY; 3

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FIG.7

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U u B CONVE D EM CLO CL no READY START DOC EDGE START DOCUMENT ENCODINGAPPARATUS CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS Reference may be madeto the patent of Jack Beery and William B. Templeton, U.S. Pat. No.3,659,524 and to the co-pending patent application, Ser. No. 812,006,filed Apr. 1, 1969, now U.S. Pat. No. 3,573,589 in the name of JackBeery entitled POSI- TION SERVO SYSTEM FOR A MOTOR INCLUD- ING DETENTINGAT DESTINATlON'and also to co-pending application, Ser. No. 68,135,filed Aug. 31, 1970 in the name of Richard M. Williams entitled EN- CODEPROGRAM SYSTEM, both of common ownership herewith.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention is directed to that field ofart pertaining to the printing of data on unit records or documents asthey are conveyed through a printing station or the like.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An important object of the invention is toprovide an improved control system for modifying the location of theareas on unit records upon which printed matter is to be added and whilesuch record media are being successively fed along a transport path.

Another important object of the invention is to provide an improvedcontrol system as aforesaid which is self-operable to perform its arealocation modification by sensing the size of each unit record as' it isbeing transported and controlling the time when the printing operationis activated.

Another important object of the invention is to provide improveddocument encoding apparatus which is adjustable for accommodatingdocuments having differently located encoding areas and for properlyentering encoding data in such areas while the documents are in transit.

Another important object of the invention is to pro vide improveddocument encoding apparatus having the capability of entering printedmatter in certain prescribed areas of rapidly fed documents andregardless of change in the location of said areas uponithe document.

In carrying out these objects, the present invention contemplates aprinting apparatus which in its broader aspects and while a document isbeing transported senses the document and employs signals resulting fromsuch sensing for modifying the operation of the apparatus so as to varythe location of printed matter added to each document as it continuesalong its path of transport.

More particularly, the invention contemplates a control circuitassociated with a document encoding station through which documents,such as bank checks or similar media, are successively fed and receiveprinting impressions while moving at relatively high speeds. Theencoding station includes a printing couple, such as a rotatable printwheel and print hammer, disposed to print on such record media as theyare successively fed through the station and further includes a circuitfor controlling the operation of the printing couple. The encodingstation includes detectors positioned along the document transport pathand on opposite sides of the printing couple which are included in thecontrol circuit for determining the presence and the dimension of eachdocument in the station and which utilizes signals resulting from suchdeterminations for governing the action of the printing assembly.Included in the control circuit is means which, depending on thedetermined size of the document, can inhibit the operation of the printhammer so as to shift the areas of the document upon which characterimpressions are made, such means performing its operation as thedocument is advanced through the encoding station. Although thedocuments may differ in certain prescribed dimensions from one another,nevertheless minor variations may also occur which the control circuitcan be adjusted to take into account. Accordingly, additional means isincluded in the control circuit which may further modify the locationsof the encoding areas when such minor variations in the dimensions ofthe document are encountered.

The above listed objects and advantages, and other objects, advantagesand aspects of the invention, will be more fully explained in thefollowing detailed description. For a more complete understanding of theinvention, reference may be had to the following detailed description inconjunction with the drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a side view of a printingstation diagrammatically illustrating the capability of the inventionfor en- -tering data on documents of different lengths in the form ofbank checks;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a printing station illustrated in FIG.1 but as viewed from the top thereof and showing in more detail theelements of the printing assembly and the location of the detectionsensors with respect to the print wheel;

FIG. 3 is a side view of the apparatus illustrated in FIG. 2 but withcertain parts removed for purpose of clarity;

FIG. 4 is a composit view illustrating in full and dotted outline twosizes of bank checks and displaying the aligned locations of the bankfields thereon and in projected larger scale the character encodingportions of each field;

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a preferred circuit for accommodatingdocuments, such as bank checks, of different predetermined lengths andfor printing data in the prescribed field areas provided on thedocuments regardless of the lengths thereof;

FIG. 6 is a timing diagram illustrating a fine adjustment of the firingtime of the encoding operation as the document is moved thereby;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged view illustrating the relationship of the delay inprinting resulting in the accommodation of a larger document and theapplication of a fine adjustment in the vent the documents fail to meetthe desired prescribed dimensions; and

FIG. 8 is a diagrammatic illustration of a preferred circuit forproviding a fine adjustment to the encoding operation in the event theprescribed field areas are not properly related to the leading edge ofthe documents.

DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION The invention isillustrated herein as being applied to the entering of data in severalfields of a financial document such as a bank check identified at 10,the titles of such -fields being separately identified in the order ofthe printing operation performed thereon by reference characters l2, l4,16, 18 and 20. As illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 4 these banking fields arearranged in a row extending longitudinally of the bank check. Normally,the encoding data to be entered is printed below these respective fieldtitles as indicated generally at 22 by a printing mechanism which, asillustrated herein, includes a reversely rotatable print wheel 24. Thebank check is fed from left to right as viewed in FIGS. 1 and 4 so thatthe right hand edge 26 constitutes the leading edge of the check and theleft hand edge 28 constitutes the trailing edge thereof. With thisspatial arrangement of the banking fields on the check, it is evidentthat the field 12, which is nearest to the leading edge 26, is the firstto receive encoding data therein.

With more particular reference to FIG. 4, the first of these fields,namely that indicated at 12, may be referred to as the Transaction Codeor TC field which is usually four character positions long andidentifies the type of document being processed. The second field may bereferred to as the Routing or RT field which may have ten characterpositions for containing information for processing the document througha financial system. The third field 16 may be the Amount or AMT fieldfor containing the money value of the document or check and for thispurpose may be 13 character positions long. The fourth field 18 may bereferred to as the Account Number or AN field and identify the payee orthe account in which the check is drawn and as illustrated, it maycontain 12 character positions therein. The fifth and last field 20 maybe considered as the ON-US or AX field which is usually 14 characterposi tions long and may contain information identifying the originatingbank. Depending upon the use of the document 10, these encoding fieldsmay be used to contain other information or be arranged in anotherorder. Moreover, in certain foreign countries the field titles and thecontents thereof may be different.

The document encoding system to be described hereinafter may be used toencode information on record members, such as bank checks, either inmagnetic ink or in conventional ink but the characters so entered areshaped as to be recognized by a machine. More specifically, suchprintings may be in magnetic ink character recognition form, referredto'as MICR, or in optical character recognition form, referred to asOCR, depending upon the nature of the equipment for machine readingthese characters. A desirable way of encoding this information in theseparate fields of a bank check would be to print them with magnetic inkbut in a font capable of being readily sensed by an optical recognitiondevice, thereby enabling the printed characters to be machine readeither magnetically or optically. Depending upon the manner in which thedocument is used, these fields may be utilized to contain informationother than that intended for banking purposes. The system to bedescribed herein provides means for assuring entry of the desired datain the proper field areas regardless of variation in the spatiallocation of these areas because of the resulting difference in thelengths of the documents being processed.

In dotted outline there has been superimposed on the bank check of FIG.1, a second larger check identified at 30. If the leading edges of thetwo checks 10 and 30 are made coincident as shown in FIG. 1, then thelonger check 30 will have its trailing end portion projecting beyondthat of the smaller check. Moreover, in

such uses to which these documents are put, the row of data enteringfield of the larger checks may be displaced further from the leadingedge than the same row on the smaller checks. This is illustrated inFIG. 1 by the offset dotted outline of the several fields of the largercheck and identified by the prime numbers 12,

14', 16, 18' and 20'. Although FIG. 1 shows the field titles of thelarger check to be displaced vertically with respect to the field titleson the smaller check for purpose of explanation, it is to be understoodthat the titles of the banking fields as well as the data entrypositions of the larger check would normally be on the same level as onthe smaller check but displaced further from the leading edge than inthe case of the smaller check.

The print wheel 24 is driven by a servo stepping motor, which may be ofthe character disclosed in the aforesaid referenced patent applicationSer. No. 812,006 now U.S. Pat. No. 3,573,589, sothat it may be steppedand stopped at very fast rates and further can be stepped from one motorfield position to the next and stopped without the armatureover-throwing. FIG. 1 schematically illustrates the induction coils 32,34 and 36 for rotating the print wheel, the coils being energized by aset of coil drivers (not shown) contained within a section of the systemidentified as 38 which, in turn, are controlled by a coil controlsection 40 shown in FIG. 1. As described in the aforesaid referencedapplication Ser. No. 812,006, the rotatable positioning of the printwheel 24 is determined by the control exercised over the coil driverswith the result that the selected type thereon is brought into printposition at which time the wheel is stopped to receive the impact of ahammer disposed on the opposite side of the transport path along whichthe documents are fed. The print wheel may be adjustably rotated ineither direction and the control circuits are so designed, as describedin the aforesaid patent application Ser. No. 812,006 now U.S. Pat. No.3,573,589, to rotate the wheel in the shortest direction to bring theselected type into printing position.

schematically illustrated in FIG. 2 is an encoding station or printeremploying the type wheel 24 and showing the wheel disposed on one sideof the path 42 along which a document, such as a bank check 10, isconveyed. For bank check encoding purposes the print wheel 24 maycontain 15 characters identified at 44 around its periphery includingthe numerals 0 to 9" and several symbols. On the opposite side of thetransport path 42 is a print impact member in the form of an interposer46 mounted for movement in a plane perpendicular to the path 42 andintersecting the axis of the print wheel. The interposer is normallyyieldingly retracted away from the document, such as by springs 47, butis capable of being impelled theretoward by the rocking movement of alever type print hammer 48 arranged to strike the rear end of theinterposer. The hammer is associated with an electromagnet generallyindicated at 50 including a coil 52 surrounding a portion of a bar 54 ofgenerally U-shaped configuration formed of magnetically permeablematerial, the bar being provided with a pivot pin 56 which serves topivotally mount the remote end portion of the hammer 48. At least theremote end of the hammer is also composed of magnetically permeablematerial and cooperates with the bar 54 to form a substantially closedmagnetic path including the portion surrounded by the coil 52. Thus,when the coil is energized it will attract the remote end of the hammerand cause its other end to swing in the direction to strike and impelthe interposer against the document in the encoding station. Theencoding unit further includes an inking ribbon 58 arranged by rollersfor interposition between the type carrying periphery of the print wheeland the transport path along which the documents are advanced so thatupon impact by the interposer a visual image of the struck type will betransferred to a document passing thereby.

Forming part of the document transport system are pairs of high speeddocument transport rollers located along the path of travel of thedocuments, two pairs of which are shown in FIG. 2 as being disposedclose to and on opposite sides of the encoding station represented bythe print wheel 24 and interposer 46. One pair of such rollers,indicated at 60, is upstream of the encoding station and the other at 62downstream from the encoding station. As is the usual practice, one ofeach pair of rollers is a drive roller whereas the other is an idlerroller making peripheral contact with the drive roller in the absence ofa document therebetween and receiving driving torque therefrom in eithercase.

In the encoding station, but contacting one another just beyond theplane in which the interposer 46 operates, is a pair of pinch rollers,one of which serves as a drive roller and is identified at 64 and theother is an idler roller 66 which is engageable with the periphery ofthe driving roller for receiving torque therefrom. The driving roller64, which is partially broken away to expose the interposer, is carriedon the end of a drive shaft 65. The idler roller 66, however, is carriedon an arm 68 which is yieldingly urged away from its companion drivingroller 64 by spring tension (not shown). This spring tension is overcomeby the action of a solenoid (not shown) which when energized acts on thearm 68 to movethe idler roller 66 into peripheral contact with eitherthe driving roller 64 or a document passing therebetween. Actually, asshown in FIG. 3, the two pinch rollers 64 and 66 may each have a coaxialcompanion roller vertically displaced therefrom and acting on a lowerportion of the same document.

The two pinch rollers 64 and 66 are tangentially disposed with respectto the document transport path and when in non-rotating contact with oneanother they will not allow a document to pass therebetween. When innon-rotating contact, the two rollers will therefore act as a limit stopto the progress of a document through the encoding station. However,when the drive pinch roller 64 begins to rotate it is designed toquickly reach a constant speed so that it will feed a document past theoperating plane of the interposer 46 at this constant speed during whichtime the encoding operation is performed on the document. The drivingspeed of the pinch rollers is relatively considerably slower than thehigh speed of the transport rollers 60 and 62 and others disposed alongthe path of travel, but because of the greater frictionalcharacteristics of the peripheries of the pinch rollers, they will whenin engagement with a document dominate the high speed transport rollersand will move it at a slower speed while the transport rollers alsoengaging the document will function ineffectually to drive it at afaster rate. At the conclusion of the encoding operation on a particulardocument passing through the encoding station, the solenoid for theidler pinch roller is de-energized enabling the spring tension acting onthe idler roller 66 to pull it away from its companion drive roller 64and thereby permitting the high speed set of transport rollers 62--62 totake over control of the document and move it at a substantially fasterrate further along the transport path.

Also included as control elements associated with the encoding stationare document sensors in the form of photodetection devices arrangedalong the path of travel through the station. As shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and3, one such sensor is positioned at 70 slightly above the print wheeland slightly downstream of the line of contact of the two pinch rollers64 and 66. A second and third of such photodetection devices 71 and 72are located in the vicinity of the pinch rollers, the former functioningin the operating plane thereof, and close to the bottom edge of adocument transported through the station. A fourth photodetection device74 is positioned upstream of the interposer 46 and generally in thevicinity of the pair of high speed rollers 60-60.

The first of these detection devices, namely that identified at 70,serves as a leading edge detector for sensing the passage of the leadingedge 26 of a document. The second and third of these devices 71 and 72serve to indicate the arrival of a document between the pinch rollersand to determine whether or not the lower edge of the document in theencoding station is undamaged and properly aligned so as to feed throughthe station in unskewed condition. The fourth photodetection device 74is located remote from the others and sufficiently upstream thereof thatfor the shorter-sized document 10 the trailing edge 28 thereof wouldhave passed thereby at the time the leading edge 26 intercepts the skewdetectors 71 and 72. This is illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 3 where theshorter check shown in full line representation has its trailing edge 28to the right of the detector 74. However, for the longer or larger sizedocuments represented by that shown at 30, the trailing edge portionthereof would still overlap and therefore still obstruct the sensor 74at the time the leading edge 26 of the docuinent intercepts thedetectors 71 and 72. As will be hereinafter described, control circuitmeans embodying features of the invention utilize the two conditionspresented by shorter and larger documents as each enters the encodingstation for controlling the printing of data in the several field areasof the document. 1

Included as additional operating elements of the encoding station is anelectromechanical clock generator for producing pulses in timed relationto the movement of the document therethrough and a clutch fordisengagingly coupling the drive pinch roller 64 to a power source.With'reference to FIG. 3, the clock generator may take the form of atoothed wheel 76 fixed to shaft 64 and a magnetic sensing head 78mounted adjacent to the wheel and operable to produce a pulse each timea tooth of the wheel passes thereby. This generator is designed toprovide eight'pulses for each character position of the document fieldsand thus dividing each character position into eight zones. Ultimately,these zone signals are received by a zone counter 200 to be moreparticularly described hereinafter. Rotational drive of the shaft 65 iscontrolled by a spring clutch schematically illustrated at 80 which maybe activated by a solenoid (not shown). It is evident from thedisposition of the generator and the cluthh that the former is onlyoperative in these circumstances when the clutch is engaged and thepinch rollers 64-66 are operating to advance the document throughtheencoding station at relatively low speed.

As illustrated in FIG. 4, the document format concerning the severalprinting fields 12, 14, 16, 18 and 20 have their respective boundariesdelineated by certain symbols including B for signifying a blank andother special symbols for the machine reading of the entries. Asdescribed in the aforesaid application Ser. No. 68,135, the specialsymbols may be controlled by a patchboard 82 shown in FIG. 5. Thecomposite view of FIG. 4 illustrates in its larger projected scale eachcharacter position of the several fields of the document including theboundary symbols. One or more of the fields on the documents shown inFIGS. 1 and 4 may be employed for entering data and the beginning end ofeach such field may be delineated by the printing of an appropriatesymbol in the manner previously described. Field identified at 12 willbegin with the symbol 84, a chair, encoded in the first digit position.Its fourth or last digit position will end as a blank B. Field 1,identified at 14, will begin its first digit position with a secondsymbol 86, a hook, and will end with a blank symbol B at position 10.Similarly, the remaining fields 16, 18 and 20 of the check will beginand end at their respective boundaries and contain different numbers ofcharacter positions into which the data entries may be made. Usually, anumber entered into each field will occupy less than the total number ofcharacter positions therein. Such numbers will be entered into the rightsection of their respective fields, and all remaining characterpositions of these fields will be zero filled to their respective leftboundaries.

When a document is transported into the encode station it is stopped bythe engaging but non-rotating pinch rollers 64-66 as previouslydescribed. However, in this position its leading edge intercepts theskew detection cells 71 and 72 and this interception may be used toproduce a signal which energizes the solenoid controlling the springclutch 80 causing it to couple the drive pinch roller 64 with a sourceof power. When so coupled, the pinch rollers quickly accelerate to aconstant speed and will move the document at this constant butrelatively slow rate through the encode station. After the document hasmoved approximately oneeighth inch, the leading edge 26 will interceptthe photodetection cell 70 which as shown in FIG. 1 is slightlydownstream from the cell 72. The signal produced by this interceptionwill allow the equally spaced apart pulses from the clock generator76-78 to function as control signals for regulating the print wheelmotion and the firing of the printing elements.

At this time in the operation of the system, the document skew detectioncells 71 and 72 and the document trailing portion detection cell 74cooperate to determine the size of a document introduced into theencoding station. As previously described, and as illustrativelyportrayed at the left of FIG. 5, a shorter document covers only the skewcells 71 and 72 if properly aligned but not the trailing edge cell 74thereby signifying that a smaller size document or bank check hasentered the encoding station. However, as also illustrated in FIG. 5, alarger document 30 will cover all three of the photodetectors 71, 72 and74 at the time the leading edge of this larger document intercepts theskew cell 71.

The logic of the control system employed in the schematic circuitdiagrams illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 8 basically use NAND gates whereinthe output is true if any one or more of the inputs of the gates arefalse. All flip flops are to be considered as J-K flip flops and will benegative triggering flip flops. A negative triggering signal is definedas one going from a positive voltage condition to a voltage conditionwhich is more negative. On all J-K flip flops having a signal connectedto the trigger input thereof, the switching of the flip flop will becontrolled by the triggered signal.

In the illustrated system, encoding is a digit by digit operation. Theinformation to be encoded on the document is withdrawn from the memoryof the apparatus and particularly from selected storage registers andtransferred digit by digit to an encode register where it is used toposition the print wheel 24, in the manner described in the referencedpatent application Ser. No. 812,006 now U.S. Pat. No. 3,573,589. Theencoding is under the control of the previously referred to symbolcontrol unit or patchboard 82, a digit control or distributor unit 88,and a field control unit 90. The last is basically a ripple counterwhich counts from zero through four and resets, and in this manner keepstrack of each of the five fields entered on each document, returning tozero to start over again on the next succeeding document. The digitcontrol distributor 88 is composed of a plurality of serially connectedflip flops arranged as a ripple-type counter for counting digitpositions from zero through and including digit 15. The digitdistributor 88 is synchronized with the rotational drive of the pinchrollers and is a four stage flip flop counter which is decoded in abinary to decimal decoder generating sixteen unique output positions DDOthrough DDIS.

As will be more particularly described hereinafter, when a document 10is ready to be encoded, an encode ready signal is generated whichperforms the function of allowing the field control unit 90 to count andalso the function of connecting the drive through the spring clutch 80for rotating the pinch roller 64. For this purpose, the leading edgephotodetector is employed and when so tripped by the leading edge of thedocument it starts the counting function of digit control unit 88. It isthus apparent that the digit control unit 88 is synchronized with therotation of the pinch rollers and their control over the movement of thedocument through the encoding station. When the DB0 signal is logicallytrue, the symbol output of the patchboard is activated and the encodingwheel 24 responds by printing the first symbol 84, a chair, in the firstcharacter position of field 0.

Once the pinch wheel drive roller 64 is clutched to the power source, itis brought up immediately to a constant rotating speed, generating thetiming signals for the digits control distributor 88 and causing it toinitially step from DDO to DD1 and then from DD1 to DD2. Because thesymbol output from the patchboard is false for DD1 and DD2, the outputof the memory of the apparatus is enabled and is gated to encode theintended data into the second and third character positions of field 0of the document. The stepping of the digit distributor continues untildigit DD3 is reached, which is position four of field 0, at which time,as indicated on the patchboard, it is wired to a blank B. When a blank Bis drawn from the patchboard, it signifies a non-encode operation and asdescribed in the aforesaid reference patent application Ser. No. 68,135it will inhibit the firing of the hammer 48 and the operation of v theprint interposer 46 with the result that no printing occurs in thisposition. The first field is four positions long, as previously recitedherein, and when the fourth character position has been accounted for anend of the field signal is gated to the field counter 90 so that it nowshifts from field 0 to field l and digit control unit 88 resets fromdigit signal DD3 to DDO. As the result, the beginning symbol of field 1,namely the hook 86, is caused to be printed on the document to signifythe beginning of this field. The encode operation continues throughoutthe remaining fields of the document employing the symbols and theblanks to signify the beginning and end of each field. At the conclusionof the last field, the pinch rollers 64 and 66 are separated by lateraldisplacement of the latter with the result that the high speed transferrollers 62-62 now take over control by the movement of the document anddrive it out of the encoding station at high speed. As previouslymentioned, the unit encoding of data in a given field usually occupiesless than the total number of character positions so that all characterpositions to the left of the entered data are filled in with zeros.

It will be apparent from the circuit shown in FIG. that for the entry ofa small size document into the encoding station, skew detectors 71 and72 are in a covered and thereby non-excited state whereas the trailingdetector 74 is not covered and is therefore in its excited state. Sincetwo of the three inputs to the NAND gate 100, namely 71/ and 72/ aretrue and the third 74/ is false, the output of the gate is true. Thisstate is inverted by NAND gate 102 whose output 104 forms the input toNAND gate 106. Assuming the presence of a timing signal on input 105 ofgate 106, which signifies the system is ready to start the encodeoperation, the NAND gate will be enabled and its output signal will befalse. This condition will be inverted to true by NAND gate 108 whoseoutput forms one input to a flip flop 110. The flip flop 110 is normallyreset to indicate this true condition as evidenced by its output 112which enters NAND gate 114 together with the input represented by thelegend start upon which a signal is induced during the time the pulsegenerator 76-78 is rendered operable. The output of NAND gate 114 isinverted by gate 116 sothat the normal field signal to NAND gate 118associated with the patchboard 82 is true. Thus, upon receipt of a DDOdigit signal upon input 120 the encoding wheel is rotated to present thecharacter 84, a chair symbol, for printing in the first characterposition of field 0. The result of this operation is shown in thefragment of document 10 at the right end of FIG. 5. The severalcharacter positions of field 0 are numerically indicated from right toleft by numerals 0, 1, 2 and 3, and as indicated in the fragmentaryportion of the document the chair symbol 84 has been entered in position0 in close proximity to the leading edge 26.

In the event, however, a larger document or bank check 30 is introducedinto the encoding station, the three photodetectors 71, 72 and 74 willbe covered thereby, as exemplified in small scale at the left end ofFIG. 5, with the result that all signals on NAND gate 100 are true sothat its output is false. Being reversed to that for the shorterdocument this false state will in its transit through the several NANDgates to the flip flop l 10 end up as a true signal causing the latterto be set and provide a true signal on its output 122. This signaltogether with the start signal by way of channel 124 enables NAND gate126 to provide a false output which is then reversed by the gate 127 totrue on input 128 to NAND gate 130 of the patchboard 82. The other inputto NAND gate 130, namely channel 132, forms the output of NAND gate 134which receives six successive digit inputs represented by DDO/, DDll,DD2/, DD3/, DB4] and DDS/ which are connected to like outputs of thedigit distributor 88. The logic of the circuit is such that as each ofthe signals DDO/ to DD5/ from the digit distributor are successively fedto the NAND gate 134 each signal produces a true signal on output 132with the result that by virtue of the patchboardconnection 136 thefiring of the hammer is inhibited thereby producing a blank space B oneach of the first six character positions of the document 30.

These six character positions are illustrated in the fragment ofdocument 30 illustrated at the right end of FIG. 5 where therepresentation B simply means the absence of any printing in theenumerated character positions one to five appearing in the rowtherebelow. In other words, for this particular larger-sized document30, six firings of the print hammer were inhibited as six characterpositions of the document passed by the interposer 46 with the resultthat a predetermined greater distance extends between the leading edgeof the larger document and the first character position of field 0thereof.

The circuit, however, is designed so that after the gate 134 receivesthe DDS/ signal from the digit distributor, the flip flop 110 is resetso as to assume its normal state. For this purpose, a reset circuit isprovided comprising a NAND gate 140 having three inputs, an input 142connected through channel 124 to the start signal input previouslyreferred to, an input 144 connected to the DDS output of the digitdistributor 88, and a third input 146 for receiving an input signalsignifying the document extension operation. The output of gate 140 isconnected through channel 148 and NAND gates 150 and 152 to reset sideof the flip flop 110 and serves to trigger the reset on the negativetransition of the clock pulse received on input 156. When this occurs,the digit distributor 88 is also set back to DDO position. Because thebeginning of a field on the document is now presented to the circuit,which position is signified by a DDO, the first symbol for such field,in this instance field 0, is printed upon the document. Since DDO is nowcalled for, the symbol 84, a chair, is printed as a first character onthe document. Comparison of the two fragments of the documents 10 and 30at the right of FIG. 5 will show that the incapacity to print in any ofthe six blank positions of the large document brings the printing of itsfirst character in field 0 in alignment with first character in field 0in the shorter document. As a result, data will be properly entered intofield 0 and all remaining fields of the larger document 30 just as if itwas a smaller size document 10.

The circuit of FIG. 5 has been described herein as applied to theautomatic sensing of the document sizes and the operation of certaincircuit components for determining the spatial location of the encodingformat on the document in accordance with the determined size of thedocument. An automatic operation of this character is desirable wherethe documents of different sizes are intermixed. However, when batchesof documents of one size are to be fed through the encoding apparatusthe operator may set the circuit to operate with this particular size ofdocument. This is accomplished in the manner shown in FIG. 5 by a manualswitch, one position of which would cause the circuit to encode on thesmaller size documents and the other position of which would cause thecircuit to encode on the larger size documents. Such a switch, shown inFIG. at 158, is connected into the input 104 of NAND gate 102 inoverriding relation to the NAND gate 100 and is operable in closedposition to ground this input and cause the circuit to encode only forlarger size documents 30 and providing the blank extension to theleading portion thereof. In the opened position of the switch 156 thecircuit will function normally to handle a batch of smaller sizedocuments and encode thereon in a manner previously described.

As earlier mentioned herein, the clock generator 76-78 produces pulsesin timed relation to the movement of the document, which pulses are at afrequency such that in the herein described embodiment of the inventionthey will divide each character position into eight zones. These eightsignals are utilized by the zone counter 200 to be more particularlydescribed hereinafter for timing the operation of the printing elementsfor printing each individual character on the moving document. Forexample, zone signals zero to three may be used to position the printwheel, zone signal six to lock the print wheel, and zone seven to firethe print hammer. Advantage is taken of the zone signals for providing afine adjustment of the printing mechanism in order to accomodate anyslight irregularity in the dimensions of the documents upon which theencoding operation is performed. Occasionally, batches of bank checkswill be found, which, although all of the same size, will vary slightlyfrom a prescribed dimension and result in a slight shift in the encodingof characters in the print areas 12-20 of the document. In a multiplesheet form of banking document, to be more particularly describedhereinafter, one or more lines of weakness are provided for tearing offmarginal end portions but retaining and using the large central areacontaining the encoded data and other information. Misplacement of theselines of weakness may raise difficulties in subsequent machine readingbecause the starting point of the row of encoded data with reference tothe newly created leading edge will differ from the prescribed distancetherefore.

FIGS. 6 and 7 describe the purpose of the desired fine adjustment of theencoding operation when dimensional irregularities of these charactersare encountered and FIG. 8 discloses the circuitry for accomplishingthis adjustment. Since each character position can be divided into equalmultiple increments, in this case eight zones by the pulse generator76-78, one or more of these pulses may be used by the adjustmentprovision to be described for delaying the firing of the print hammerand its interposer so as to shift the printing of the characters in thedesignated areas 12-20 anywhere from one-eighth to seven-eighths of acharacter position. For example, FIG. 6 illustrates the superimpositionof three zone delays upon the normal operation of the print hammer on asmaller size check 10. As earlier explained herein, the first printoperations on each bank check entering the encoding station is the chairseventh zone of the first character position as indicated by the chartin FIG. 6, but because of the imposition of a delay of three zones toaccommodate a batch of slightly oversized documents the timing of thefiring has been adjusted to occur three zones later or at the 10th zonesignal as received since the leading edge of the document interceptedleading edge sensor 70.

FIG. 7 illustrates a delay in firing caused not only by the addition ofsix blank character positions in advance of the chair symbol 84 for alarger document 30 but also by the addition of a fraction of a characterposition represented by the narrow box 160. This fractional extension ofthe delay represented by the delta symbol, takes advantage of the zonepulses derived from the pulse generator 76-78. As in FIG. 6, three ofthese zone pulses are employed in this example to add the slightsupplemental extension onto the larger extension represented by the sixblank character positions.

In certain countries multi-sheet document assemblies are used forindividual bank checks, and by virtue of interleaved carbon sheets theencoding data is printed not only on the top sheet of an individualcheck assembly of this type but also printed on the remaining sheets ofeach assembly in order to provide several copies of the check.Multi-sheet bank check forms of this kind usually require a removableand tab portion at one or both ends of the assembly for temporarilysecuring the sheets of the assembly together at least until the encodingoperation is performed, after which the tabs are usually removed or tornoff in order to separate the bank check copies from one another. A checkof this form may be exemplified in FIG. 4 if the two end extensions ofthe larger check 30 beyond the smaller check 10 are considered as theremovable tab portions serving, before removal, to secure several layersor sheets together into packet for the earlier part of the commercialtransaction and later removed after the encoding operation. In otherwords, the area represented by the smaller check 10 in FIG. 4 alsoconstitutes the reduced size of the larger check 30 after removal of itstwo end portions.

To facilitate severing of these two tab portions, the larger check 30 isprovided lines of weakness or perforations which in FIG. 4 wouldcoincide with the leading and trailing edges of the smaller check 10.However, in providing these lines of weakness for severing purposes,they should be precisely laid down on the larger check 30, otherwisewhen the tabs are removed from the larger check, the machine reading ofthe original and carbon copies thereof may be erroneous. This is likelyto occur if the characters of the encoded data do not properly registerwith their assigned character positions on the check. The adjustmentprovision of FIG. 8 enables the operator to examine a sample check of abatch of initially larger checks 30 and after removing the tab portionsfrom the sample determining with the use of a bank check gauge whetherthe distance between the new leading edge and the first character 84 infield 0 is precisely that required by banking regulations. If not, ameasured fractional adjustment performed by the circuit of FIG. 8 willenable the operator to properly encode on the balance of the checks ofthis batch so that subsequent machine reading will be accurate.

Referring more specifically to FIG. 8, the circuit in general comprisesan operator control switch generally indicated at 162 having a handle164 which is normally set at the position but which is movable throughone to seven decimal positions each representing a different one of theseven remaining zone pulses produced by the pulse generator 76-78 foreach character position. The output of the switch as determined by theswitch handle is fed to a decimal to binary converter indicated at 166whose output signals S1, S2 and S4 are connected to a comparator 168.

In the lower portion of FIG. 8 there is shown a delay counterrepresented by the flip flops C1, C2 and C4 which are serially connectedtogether in a conventional manner and receive signals on channel 170originating from the electromechanical pulse generator 76-78 (EM clock),such signals being conveyed to NAND gates 172 and 174 and to the firstflip flop of the counter. A signal from an encode interlock flip flop(EIF) is also received by the delay counter on input 176 which isconveyed through NAND gates to the separate flip flops of the counterfor signifying that the encode operation is in effect and enabling theflip flops of the counter, the signal being high for encoding and lowduring the time when encoding operation is not to be performed.

Inputs 180 and 182 to NAND gate 184 provide ready start and documentedge starting signals respectively to the circuit of FIG. 8. When bothinputs are true the output signal of NAND gate 184 is false butre-inverted to true state by NAND gate 186 with the result that theinput 188 to NAND gate 190 is true. If the switch 164 is adjusted to itsnormal zero position, the fine adjustment circuit of FIG. 8 merelycompares the zero setting of the control 162 with the zero resetcondition of the delay counter represented by the flip flops C1, C2 andC4 and therefore no delay is imposed in the action of the zero counter.However, if the switch 164 should be shifted to any one of the decimalnumerals 1 through 7, then the input 192 to NAND gate 190 would be trueonly when the comparator determines that the count of the pulsesreceived from the delay counter by way of channel 194 matches the numberto which the switch handle 164 has been turned. When this occurs, theinputs to the NAND gate 190 will'both be true providing a false signalon its output which in turn is inverted by NAND gate 196 to a truecondition on the input 198 to the zone counter 200 which as previouslydescribed regulates the timing of the operating elements of the encodingprinter. The zone counter is enabled by a true signal on input 196causing it to start counting repetitively from zero to seven, reset andcount again from zero to seven, et cetera. In this manner the zonecounter feeds signals timed to the movement of the document forcontrolling the operating elements of the printing station so thatduring the passage of each character position on the document past theinterposer 46 the print wheel is rotated to bring the selected characterinto the print position and detented in such position and thereafter theprint interposer impacts the document against the selected character.

At the time a false signal occurs on the output of NAN D gate 190, thiscondition is transmitted by channel 202 to input of NAND gate 204, theoutput of which is connected to NAND gate 206, and thence to the inputof the delay counter flip flops between NAND gates 172 and 174. Thereceipt of this condition, which reflects the start of the zone counter200, will inhibit further activity on the part of the delay counter.

It is evident from the above description that two control circuits havebeen described for controlling the operation of the printing couple,such as represented by a print wheel 24 and the print hammer 48, and formodifying the commencement of its printing operation on a documentpassing through the encoding station. One such circuit provides arelatively coarse adjustment, in this instance, six inhibited or blankcharacter positions when a larger document is passed through thestation,

and the other a relatively fine adjustment of the printing operationrepresenting a fractional portion of one character position on thedocument. The circuit of FIG. 5 provides the first of such adjustmentsand the circuit of FIG. 8 provides the second. The two control circuitsexercise their respective controlling actions over the operatingelements of the printer and are relatively independent of one another.That is to say, one control circuit may be used while'the other is notand vice versa, and both may be employed to control the operation of theencoder as exemplified by the schematic illustration in FIG. 7.

It is believed that the operation of the apparatus is clearly apparentfrom the hereinabove description. In one embodiment of the invention,the document is moved through the encoding station at a rate of 2.5inches per second and when the leading edge of the document interceptsthe detector 70, the encoder timing logic provided by the zone counteris started. The encoding timing is kept in synchronization with theadvancement of the document by the electromechanical clock 76-78. Inthis embodiment, it will take each character position on the document 50milleseconds to move past the print wheel interposer hammer 46, and thisrepresents the time allowed for each character to be processed andprinted. The sequence of accessing digits from the memory of theapparatus, positioning of the print wheel and the firing of the hammercontinues as the document moves through the encoder station. If acharacter is not to be printed, one or more blank signals are producedwhich prevent the hammer from firing in zone 7 of each characterposition. The control circuit of FIG. 5 utilizes one or more wholecharacter positions to provide the desired adjustment for documents ofdifferent sizes. The control circuit of FIG. 8 utilizes a fractionalportion of one character position represented by one or more of theseven zones into which it is divided by the zone counter to provide thedesired relatively fine adjustment.

While a particular embodiment of the invention has been shown anddescribed, it will be understood, of course, that it is not desired thatthe invention be limited thereto since modifications may be made, and itis, therefore, contemplated by the appended claims to cover any suchmodifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.

What I claim is: i

1. Apparatus for printing on record members of at least two differentlengths each having a series of areas displaced lengthwise of the recordmember and representing different encoding fields or the like, thecombination of which comprises:

a printing station and means for serially feeding such record membersfield-by-field through the printing station, said printing stationincluding printing mechanism for printing on said field areas as theypass thereby,

first detection means on the downstream side of the printing mechanismfor sensing the presence of the record member and so positioned withrespect to the printing mechanism as to signify the passage of theleading edge of such record members thereby in advance of the passage ofthe first field area past the printing mechanism,

second detection means positioned on the upstream side of the printingmechanism for sensing the presence of the trailing portion of only thelonger of such record members,

control circuit means coupled to said first and second detection meansand including means responsive to the sensing of such a record member byonly the first detection means for providing a first signal signifyingthe passage of a shorter one of such record members and responsive tothe coincident sensing of such a record member by the first and seconddetection means for providing a second signal signifying the passage ofa longer one of such record members, and

said control circuit means further including means responding to saidfirst and said second signals and being operable to commence theprinting of said first field area at one distance from the leading edgeof such a record member when said first signal only is received and tocommence the printing of said first field area at another distance fromthe leading edge of such a record member when said second signal isreceived.

2. Apparatus as defined in claim 1 characterized in that said lastmentioned means is effective to commence the printing of the first fieldarea at a shorter distance from the leading edge of such record memberwhen the said first signal is received and at a greater distance fromthe leading edge of such a record member when the said second signal isreceived.

3. Apparatus as defined in claim 1 characterized in that said feedingmeans advances the record members at a constant rate past the printingmechanism, and further characterized in that means is provided foroperating the printing mechanism in timed relation to said constant rateof advance.

4. In combination with a printing station including means for seriallyfeeding record members of varying lengths therethrough having lengthwiseextending series of encoding fields each divided into a plurality ofcharacter positions for the entry of printed characters, and furtherincluding a printing couple composed of a rotatable print wheel andcooperating print impact member for entering characters into thecharacter positions of the encoding fields of each such record member asit passes thereby,

first detection means on the downstream side of the printing wheel forsensing the presence of such a record member and so positioned withrespect to the printing wheel as to signify the passage of the leadingedge of such record member thereby in advance of the passage of thefirst of said series of encoding fields past said printing couple,

second detection means positioned on the upstream side of the printingcouple for sensing the presence of the trailing portion of such a recordmember passing through the printing station,

means coupled to said first and second detection means andresponsive tothe sensing of such a record member by only the first detection meansfor providing a first signal signifying the passage of a shorter one ofsuch record members and responsive to the concurrent sensing of such arecord member by both the first and second detection means for providinga second signal signifying the passage of a longer one of such recordmembers, and

a control circuit responding to the receipt of said first and secondsignals for causing the printing couple to print characters in the firstof said series of encoding fields at one distance from the leading edgeof such a record member when said first signal only is received and forcausing the print couple to print characters in the first of said seriesof encoding fields at another distance from the leading edge of such arecord member when said second signal is received.

5. The printing station as defined in claim 4 characterized in that thecontrol circuit includes means for delaying the printing action of theprint couple upon such a record member being fed therethrough for acertain number of character positions when said second signal isreceived.

6. The printing station as defined in claim 4 characterized in thatmeans is included in the control circuit for inhibiting the printingaction of the printing couple upon such a record member being fedthrough the printing station for a fractional portion of a characterposition of the record member.

7. In apparatus for printing data along a line of adjoining equal-sizedcharacter positions extending lengthwise of a document;

a printing couple including a movable print member carrying typecharacters and a cooperating hammer member operable to impact a selectedtype character after the print member has been moved to present the typecharacter for printing, said members of the printing couple beingdisposed on opposite sides of a transport path;

means for serially advancing documents at a constant rate along thatportion of the transport path extending between the two members of theprinting couple;

means for coordinating the operation of the printing couple in timedrelation to the advance of a document therebetween and producing aplurality of clock signals during the time interval required to prepareand print each character for governing the action of the operatingelements of the printing couple;

detection means positioned in downstream relation of the printing couplefor sensing the passage of the leading edge of a document thereby andproducing a signal when such occurs;

circuit means coupled to said detection means and responsive to itssignal for causing the printing couple to commence the printing of saidline on the document at a given distance from the leading edge thereof,and

a control circuit coupled to said operation coordinating means toreceive said clock signals and including means for varying the startingpoint of the printing operation performed by the printing couple on saidline of a document by changing the number of said clock pulses utilizedfor printing the first character of said line.

8. Apparatus as defined in claim 7 characterized in that the controlcircuit utilizes the clock signals for inhibiting the printing action ofthe printing couple for a fractional portion of one character positionso that the printing couple is caused to commence the printing of saidline at an equivalent greater distance from the leading edge of thedocument.

9. Apparatus as defined in claim 8 characterized in that said controlcircuit includes a control member selectively movable to any one of aplurality of positions each representative of a different number of theclock signals and further includes a comparator for matching theselected number of clock signals against those received by the controlcircuit.

10. In printing apparatus having cooperative elements disposed onopposite sides of a document transport path to form a printing coupleeffective to print a single character at a time on a document disposedtherebetween, and including means for uninterruptedly advancingdocuments serially along the transport path between the elements of theprinting couple and including further means for actuating the elementsof the printing couple while each such document is advanceduninterruptedly therebetween to print a row of characters on the movingdocument,

means for producing electrical pulses in substantially timed relation tothe uninterrupted movement of each document through the printing couple,the frequency of the pulses produced by said producing means being sorelated to each character being printed by said printing couple as toproduce a plurality of pulses during the time interval needed to preparea selected character for printing and to print such selected character,

means for receiving the pulses produced by said pulse producing meansand operable to assign a group of such pulses to each character selectedto print on the document and to utilize such an assigned group of pulsesfor controlling the operation of the cooperative elements of theprinting couple to print the character on the moving document, and

means for introducing one or more pulses into the pulse group assignedto a character selected for printing to shift the print position of suchcharacter in the row being printed on the document.

11. Printing apparatus as defined in claim 10 wherein detection means isprovided for determining a dimensional characteristic of each documentfed through the printing couple and wherein further means is providedfor selecting the location of the character to be printed on thedocument in accordance with this determination.

12. Printing apparatus as defined in claim 10 wherein said detectionmeans includes a detector for sensing the leading edge of a documentintroduced to the printing couple and further includes a second detectorfor concurrently sensing the presence or absence of the trailing edgeportion of the same document.

13. Printing apparatus as defined in claim 10 wherein the pulseintroducing means acts to delay the printing of the character associatedwith the pulse group into which one or more pulses have been introduced,the extent of the delay being determined by the number of pulsesintroduced into the group.

14. Printing apparatus as defined in claim 10 wherein means is providedwhich is operatively coupled to said pulse introducing means forcontrolling the same and which includes a control member selectivelymovable to any one of a plurality of positions each representative of adifferent number of the clock signals and further includes a comparatorfor matching the selected number of clock signals against those receivedby said pulse receiving means for assignment as a pulse character to acharacter selected for printing.

1. Apparatus for printing on record members of at least two differentlengths each having a series of areas displaced lengthwise of the recordmember and representing different encoding fields or the like, thecombination of which comprises: a printing station and means forserially feeding such record members field-by-field through the printingstation, said printing station including printing mechanism for printingon said field areas as they pass thereby, first detection means on thedownstream side of the printing mechanism for sensinG the presence ofthe record member and so positioned with respect to the printingmechanism as to signify the passage of the leading edge of such recordmembers thereby in advance of the passage of the first field area pastthe printing mechanism, second detection means positioned on theupstream side of the printing mechanism for sensing the presence of thetrailing portion of only the longer of such record members, controlcircuit means coupled to said first and second detection means andincluding means responsive to the sensing of such a record member byonly the first detection means for providing a first signal signifyingthe passage of a shorter one of such record members and responsive tothe coincident sensing of such a record member by the first and seconddetection means for providing a second signal signifying the passage ofa longer one of such record members, and said control circuit meansfurther including means responding to said first and said second signalsand being operable to commence the printing of said first field area atone distance from the leading edge of such a record member when saidfirst signal only is received and to commence the printing of said firstfield area at another distance from the leading edge of such a recordmember when said second signal is received.
 2. Apparatus as defined inclaim 1 characterized in that said last mentioned means is effective tocommence the printing of the first field area at a shorter distance fromthe leading edge of such record member when the said first signal isreceived and at a greater distance from the leading edge of such arecord member when the said second signal is received.
 3. Apparatus asdefined in claim 1 characterized in that said feeding means advances therecord members at a constant rate past the printing mechanism, andfurther characterized in that means is provided for operating theprinting mechanism in timed relation to said constant rate of advance.4. In combination with a printing station including means for seriallyfeeding record members of varying lengths therethrough having lengthwiseextending series of encoding fields each divided into a plurality ofcharacter positions for the entry of printed characters, and furtherincluding a printing couple composed of a rotatable print wheel andcooperating print impact member for entering characters into thecharacter positions of the encoding fields of each such record member asit passes thereby, first detection means on the downstream side of theprinting wheel for sensing the presence of such a record member and sopositioned with respect to the printing wheel as to signify the passageof the leading edge of such record member thereby in advance of thepassage of the first of said series of encoding fields past saidprinting couple, second detection means positioned on the upstream sideof the printing couple for sensing the presence of the trailing portionof such a record member passing through the printing station, meanscoupled to said first and second detection means and responsive to thesensing of such a record member by only the first detection means forproviding a first signal signifying the passage of a shorter one of suchrecord members and responsive to the concurrent sensing of such a recordmember by both the first and second detection means for providing asecond signal signifying the passage of a longer one of such recordmembers, and a control circuit responding to the receipt of said firstand second signals for causing the printing couple to print charactersin the first of said series of encoding fields at one distance from theleading edge of such a record member when said first signal only isreceived and for causing the print couple to print characters in thefirst of said series of encoding fields at another distance from theleading edge of such a record member when said second signal isreceived.
 5. The printing station as defined in claim 4 characterized inthat thE control circuit includes means for delaying the printing actionof the print couple upon such a record member being fed therethrough fora certain number of character positions when said second signal isreceived.
 6. The printing station as defined in claim 4 characterized inthat means is included in the control circuit for inhibiting theprinting action of the printing couple upon such a record member beingfed through the printing station for a fractional portion of a characterposition of the record member.
 7. In apparatus for printing data along aline of adjoining equal-sized character positions extending lengthwiseof a document; a printing couple including a movable print membercarrying type characters and a cooperating hammer member operable toimpact a selected type character after the print member has been movedto present the type character for printing, said members of the printingcouple being disposed on opposite sides of a transport path; means forserially advancing documents at a constant rate along that portion ofthe transport path extending between the two members of the printingcouple; means for coordinating the operation of the printing couple intimed relation to the advance of a document therebetween and producing aplurality of clock signals during the time interval required to prepareand print each character for governing the action of the operatingelements of the printing couple; detection means positioned indownstream relation of the printing couple for sensing the passage ofthe leading edge of a document thereby and producing a signal when suchoccurs; circuit means coupled to said detection means and responsive toits signal for causing the printing couple to commence the printing ofsaid line on the document at a given distance from the leading edgethereof, and a control circuit coupled to said operation coordinatingmeans to receive said clock signals and including means for varying thestarting point of the printing operation performed by the printingcouple on said line of a document by changing the number of said clockpulses utilized for printing the first character of said line. 8.Apparatus as defined in claim 7 characterized in that the controlcircuit utilizes the clock signals for inhibiting the printing action ofthe printing couple for a fractional portion of one character positionso that the printing couple is caused to commence the printing of saidline at an equivalent greater distance from the leading edge of thedocument.
 9. Apparatus as defined in claim 8 characterized in that saidcontrol circuit includes a control member selectively movable to any oneof a plurality of positions each representative of a different number ofthe clock signals and further includes a comparator for matching theselected number of clock signals against those received by the controlcircuit.
 10. In printing apparatus having cooperative elements disposedon opposite sides of a document transport path to form a printing coupleeffective to print a single character at a time on a document disposedtherebetween, and including means for uninterruptedly advancingdocuments serially along the transport path between the elements of theprinting couple and including further means for actuating the elementsof the printing couple while each such document is advanceduninterruptedly therebetween to print a row of characters on the movingdocument, means for producing electrical pulses in substantially timedrelation to the uninterrupted movement of each document through theprinting couple, the frequency of the pulses produced by said producingmeans being so related to each character being printed by said printingcouple as to produce a plurality of pulses during the time intervalneeded to prepare a selected character for printing and to print suchselected character, means for receiving the pulses produced by saidpulse producing means and operable to assign a group of such pulses toeach characteR selected to print on the document and to utilize such anassigned group of pulses for controlling the operation of thecooperative elements of the printing couple to print the character onthe moving document, and means for introducing one or more pulses intothe pulse group assigned to a character selected for printing to shiftthe print position of such character in the row being printed on thedocument.
 11. Printing apparatus as defined in claim 10 whereindetection means is provided for determining a dimensional characteristicof each document fed through the printing couple and wherein furthermeans is provided for selecting the location of the character to beprinted on the document in accordance with this determination. 12.Printing apparatus as defined in claim 10 wherein said detection meansincludes a detector for sensing the leading edge of a documentintroduced to the printing couple and further includes a second detectorfor concurrently sensing the presence or absence of the trailing edgeportion of the same document.
 13. Printing apparatus as defined in claim10 wherein the pulse introducing means acts to delay the printing of thecharacter associated with the pulse group into which one or more pulseshave been introduced, the extent of the delay being determined by thenumber of pulses introduced into the group.
 14. Printing apparatus asdefined in claim 10 wherein means is provided which is operativelycoupled to said pulse introducing means for controlling the same andwhich includes a control member selectively movable to any one of aplurality of positions each representative of a different number of theclock signals and further includes a comparator for matching theselected number of clock signals against those received by said pulsereceiving means for assignment as a pulse character to a characterselected for printing.